camera phone pic of MAC's Impassioned. Much brighter in person!
Anyone that knows me knows I never ever ever have my lips as the focal point for my make-up. I attribute my initial dislike for bright coloured lipsticks to a combination of the following:
1. I feel my features are in better ‘proportion’ when I focus make-up on my eyes.
2. True story: My first ever lipstick years/decades(?!) ago was a now likely discontinued bright magenta – Maybelline’s Wild Berries. (Side note: How bad-ass was my Mom buying me my first lipstick at 10, and letting me wear it to school?! Yep, my Mom still is bad-ass!) Although I would like to consider myself as being ages ahead of today’s popular trend, at that time, who are we kidding?! Being a novice in application, I was drawing outside the lipline and likely wearing a pink mustache half the time, not being able to apply it properly. Needless to say, pictures of such pink mustaches were enough to instill a message of avoiding brights for the years onward.
3. I find my eye make-up generally stays put, whereas in comparison, I need to touch up my lipstick/gloss more often. Overall, it’s much easier to touch-up with muted lipsticks/glosses than worrying about the precision of re-doing a bright, matte lip!
4. I usually like to play up my eyes, and I always find that as a better feature to emphasize when selling my ‘skills’ as a make-up artist.
So now, in an attempt to practice what I preach (i.e. lightening your make-up routine for summer!), I wore bright lips in public for the first time ever this weekend…well, ‘ever’ being since my grade 5 stint with Maybelline’s Wild Berries.
Here are some quick tips I employed to (help feel like I) pull(ed) it off!
1. Choose a shade you’re comfortable with.
Trends come and go and what lasts are the impressions you make.  So whether it’s a vision of you rocking a smoky eye look or a pair of bright lips, you have to wear whatever look you choose with confidence.  Bright coloured lips are all the rage for sure right now, and while I may wear bright red and bright pink lipsticks, I will definitely steer clear of colours like bright orange on my lips (well, at least for now!) because I feel like I just can’t pull it off! In the end just remember, trends are not meant to be interpreted literally…they’re moreso to act as a guideline for what’s happening now. Choose what you’re comfortable with, and you’ll make the trend work for you….rather than the trend wearing you. That’s key.
2. Exfoliate, moisturize your lips.
Bright lips draw attention. Bigtime. Make sure your lips are looking their best if you plan on wearing brights – smooth and supple. Wear a lip balm before going to bed, and apply it in the morning at the start of your beauty routine. You can also make your own exfoliator by mixing some olive oil with sugar and rubbing that on that lips. I like to use an oldie but goodie fave, Lipscuff by the Body Shop along with Korres lip balms to remedy chapped lips.
3. Pay attention to the make-up you can’t see.
For a really polished bright lip look, focus on the make-up you can’t see….you know the things you do to get that ‘natural’ look. Have I confused you yet?! For instance:
i). Get (or fake) good brows.
Fill in your brows where necessary. Make-up when added here and done right never looks like ‘make-up’. It just looks polished and helps to add a defined top-half balance to a strong defined bottom-half of the face.
ii). Add mascara.
We’re doing less eye make-up, but we still want to enhance the eyes by bringing out our eyelashes. Use a waterproof formula to beat the summer heat!
iii). Highlight + conceal.
Bright lips are an instant wake-up for a tired face, but you also have to make sure you conceal any undereye circles for a completely polished look.
iv). Shimmer right.
Add a dab of shimmery-textured off-white eyeshadow to the inner corners of the eyes. This helps to draw in the light, and give a wide-eyed and wide-awake look…all without looking like ‘make-up’!
4. Add some colour to the cheeks.
Full colour on the lips can often make the rest of the face look washed out. Bring the colour back by adding some bronzer + a neutral coloured flush to the cheeks. One of my current cheeky faves is Joe Fresh’s cream blush in Rose. It’s the perfect neutral pink for softening the hard edginess of bright coloured lips. No looking like paint by numbers here.
So now that I’ve had some practice wearing bright lips in public with confidence, let’s see if I can master this look on a couple of TV spots this week! Stay tuned! :)
Also, link me pics of your bright lips in the comments! Curious to know what other colours people are loving! :)
